Feds File Charges, Reveal Evidence

Federal authorities disclosed a wealth of evidence recovered from the car of two suspects in the Washington-area sniper case as prosecutors filed charges Tuesday that could bring the death penalty for one of them.

A global positioning system, a pair of two-way radios and a brown cotton glove matching a glove found at one of the shooting scenes were among the items recovered after last week's arrest of John Allen Muhammad, 41, and 17-year-old John Lee Malvo.

"I believe the ultimate sanction ought to be available here," Attorney General John Ashcroft told reporters at the Justice Department, adding that the sniper slayings are "an atrocity."

"We want to be able to make sure that the system of justice operates effectively to make sure that the most serious penalties are available," Ashcroft said. "I believe there is a great opportunity for us to cooperate to get the right result here, and I believe that will happen."

The federal charges were filed against Muhammad in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Md. The 20-count charging complaint does not name Malvo, because he is not an adult.

A juvenile can be charged with a federal capital offense but cannot be executed and officials are barred from discussing any federal charges against a juvenile. Ashcroft said a court would first have to certify that Malvo be treated as an adult.

In federal court today, Muhammad seemed at ease, reports CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart, smiling at his public defenders and answering "Yes, sir" in a loud voice when asked if he understood the charges -- one of which could bring the death penalty.

Later, his lawyers said the ex-veteran had faith in the courts.

Public Defender James Wyda said, "Mr. Muhammad and his lawyers still trust this system of justice. Please let it work."

The main death penalty charge against Muhammad is use of a firearm on multiple occasions that resulted in death. Although there were 13 shootings that claimed 10 lives, the federal complaint names only seven victims — six killed in Montgomery County, Md., and one from that county murdered in Washington, D.C.

Muhammad also was charged under the Hobbs Act, which allows a capital murder charge when a killing includes extortion and interstate commerce is interrupted.

A note believed left by the sniper at the scene of a Virginia shooting demanded $10 million. Interstate commerce was interrupted by, among other things, traffic jams created as police searched for the killer.

Other charges include interstate transportation in aid of racketeering and discharging a firearm in a school zone.

The federal affidavit confirms recovery of a tarot card with a handwritten note after the Oct. 7 shooting outside a school in Bowie, Md. A second, longer note demanding $10 million was found after an Oct. 19 shooting in Ashland, Va. The handwriting appears to be by the same person, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit also details evidence found in the 1990 Chevrolet Caprice in which Muhammad and Malvo were sleeping when they were arrested at a Maryland rest stop. The items include the Bushmaster .223-caliber rifle police have linked to some of the killings and a brown cotton glove stuck in a hole in the trunk. Authorities believe the sniper shot victims through the hole while lying in the trunk.

The glove matches a glove found at the scene of the Oct. 22 murder of a Montgomery Co., Md., bus driver, according to the affidavit.

Also found in the search was a pack containing the global positioning system, two shooting mittens, a single .223-caliber round under a paper towel on the floor, a pair of two-way radios, a laptop computer, a pair of bolt cutters and a wallet containing several drivers licenses bearing Muhammad's likeness but with different names.

The affidavit also quotes a person who knew both suspects in Tacoma, Wash., as saying that Muhammad frequently "referred to his associate as 'sniper'" and was seen in possession of a rifle similar to the Bushmaster during the past six months.

Officials in Maryland and Virginia, where all but one of the shootings occurred, already have filed murder charges that could bring the death penalty for Muhammad and Malvo.

In Montgomery, Ala., prosecutors have filed capital murder charges against the pair for a shooting during a liquor store robbery last month.

Justice Department officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said filing the federal charges does not necessarily mean the federal government will seek to be the first to prosecute the suspects. Negotiations about the schedule for trials will continue with the states, the officials said.

"This doesn't mean that we go first," one official said.

All the charges stem from the three-week series of shootings this month.

In Maryland, 17-year-olds are not eligible for the death penalty. There is no death penalty in the District of Columbia, where one person was killed.

Virginia, which allows condemned prisoners to choose between lethal injection and the electric chair, has executed 86 people since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976, more than any other state except Texas. In the same period, Maryland has executed three people and is one of two states with a moratorium on executions.

According to CBS Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen, the federal complaint keeps Muhammad in federal custody and lays out a sketch of the case the Justice Department says it has against him. But it doesn't necessarily mean that Muhammad or Malvo will be tried first in federal court.

The feds have done little more than secure their position as the front-runner in the race to get these men to trial first. But the race apparently hasn't been decided. The Justice Department still could defer to Virginia or Maryland and allow local jurisdictions in either state to prosecute first and the feds left open that option by not including any Virginia-related charges in the complaint.

These guys have a monumental job ahead of them and clearly they know it, says Cohen. And the lead lawyer said all he really could say now, which is that people should wait for trial before they judge Muhammad.

This looks right now like a lost cause for Muhammad. Perhaps it is, but even aside from the evidence the defense will have some decent arguments, not the least of which is the argument that their client cannot get a fair trial because prosecutors have tainted the jury pool in the region by their comments.